Six Hundred Four Shoes: Art with Local Tread
For our first blog in our Art & Fashion section, Vancouver Bike Guide chose a crossover topic that had ‘one foot’ in each camp. Yes, today we’re talking sneaker art and specifically a local brand called Six Hundred Four shoes.
For those from out of town, Six Hundred Four or ‘604’ is one of the two area codes for Vancouver. The other is ‘778’, but it’s a newer code and less prized than the nostalgic ‘604’.
So that’s where the names from, but what makes them unique and why are we featuring them?
Well, two reasons. When we’re not blogging, we’re riding and when we’re not riding for leisure, we’re riding for work, as bike guides. Annnnd, it just so happens our afternoon tour “Dragons & Steam” stops right outside the Six Hundred Four downtown showroom. Over the years we’ve had may guests inquire about the unique footwear and we thought it would be fun to dig a little deeper.
The other reason we wanted to showcase this company is because their shoes feature many of the local artists that work on the Vancouver Mural Festival. Having built a Mural Tour around these urban masterpieces, we thought it would be fun to follow-up.
The Shoes
The artists come from many different backgrounds but are all tasked with creating pieces of art for four styles of shoes. Most choose to work with two low cut flats (in the classic low Chuck Taylor format), one mid-ankle and one high-top. The artists create unique tapestries that are then ’tattooed’ on the footwear. Special printers paint each shoe, so there is no fear of labels peeling or cracking. 604 pairs are made of each style and within that style there are 4 colour combinations. So really, if you buy one of these works of art, there are only 150 more in the world. And that’s all sizes!
The Artists
One of the featured artists that we are admittedly a little gaga for, is Carson (or Chairman) Ting. Carson painted the “Ride Wild” piece on a wall just off Main Street, up from 2nd Avenue. It is a wonderful starting point for a bike tour because it depicts two cars being pulled apart to reveal happy cyclists. It is painted in Carson’s distinctive, cartoon style, which has many similarities to Matt Groening’s early “Life is Hell” works.
His shoes are named after three streets and a design feature. There are the Alexanders: a low cut everyday white healed sneaker; the Cordova: a slightly higher, black soled sneaker; the Cambie HI: a hightop basketball shoe; and the Slips: a slip on, no laces easy-breezy flat.
Carson has included streets and landmarks from the city in his design, so it does truly feel like you’re wearing a piece of Vancouver.
Other collections include “Def Leppard”, a sneaker ode to the vinyl covers of the iconic 80s hair band, L.J. Throstle’s octopus inspired shoes and the 25th anniversary of the “Black Sunday” album, the Cypress Hill collection (with extra heel support to keep you high).
Gastown Location
Stop by the Six Hundred Four showroom to see all the sneakers, past and present.
